


Joy

by multifandomgeek



Category: Canada's Drag Race RPF, RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Lesbian AU, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25920046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multifandomgeek/pseuds/multifandomgeek
Summary: Lemon and Priyanka were both on the dance team at their school, but hadn't really gotten close until Priyanka is suddenly in need of a new math partner.
Relationships: Lemon/Priyanka
Comments: 12
Kudos: 48





	Joy

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Writ for the helpful conversations and Joley for betaing <3
> 
> This was a struggle to write but I needed to do it. I needed it.

Priyanka was friends with everybody. It was her thing, and she was proud of it. When she first got into High School, she made a point of telling her name to every single person she could until everybody knew who she was, including the janitors and even the loner kids. Now in 11th grade, sometimes she would ask the new people what’s her name just to see them sweat, then laugh it off and tell them if they didn’t know. It was very effective to make her popular, plus it was funny, which didn't hurt.

Being part of the school's dance team meant that Priyanka had an automatic close group of friends. She was closest with Tynomi, but they all hung out pretty consistently. But Priyanka didn't like to limit herself, and one of the people she'd been friends with pretty much since forever was Kyne. Having a genius friend had its advantages, that is, until said genius friend was too good for regular classes.

“I can’t believe Kyne isn’t in my math class this year,” complained Priyanka to Tynomi at the start of the year, while they compared their schedules on their way to class. “Why did she have to sign up for advanced classes? What a traitor! Who am I gonna copy from now?”

Tynomi chuckled. “Because she’s smart, that’s why. I’m sure you’re gonna find somebody.”

“It was so convenient, though. We had a system.”

“Maybe you can actually learn something. That would be new,” snickered Tynomi.

Priyanka squinted at her just as they got to an intersection and had to part ways. Tynomi blew her a kiss and waved goodbye still laughing. She yelled something about not abusing her next victim but Priyanka wasn’t listening anymore. She was more worried about who she’d find in the next classroom. With about a dozen people on the dance team, she was bound to find at least one of them in there, but Priyanka didn’t want just a friend, she wanted a smart friend, and that was a little trickier. Of course, she could get closer to somebody new, but that was toeing the line of her moral grounds just for a grade. Unless they were cool. Then it would be okay.

She walked into the classroom scanning the other students like a hawk looking for prey. If this was a movie, there would be a target symbol in front of her eyes and a beeping noise to go with it. Priyanka knew about half of these kids well enough to have an excuse to sit by their side, but she didn’t end up having to think for long as her eyes soon laid on bright yellow hair and the metaphorical beep in her head went haywire.

“Hey,” greeted Priyanka as she plopped her backpack down on the desk just beside Lemon. She was no genius but she was certainly smarter than she gave herself credit for. “Wanna be my new Kyne?”

Lemon looked up at her, “I didn’t know you thought so highly of me,” she said with her usual sarcasm and a hand on her chest for effect.

Priyanka smiled and sat down. “You’re my only friend in this class, Lem.”

“That’s not true, what about Jimbo over there? And Brooke Lynn.”

Priyanka looked at Jimbo, who was very nice and super smart but went through heaven and hell to convince teachers to let her do group projects by herself every single time. Brooke Lynn, on the other hand, was apparently having this same conversation with a nerdy girl on the other side of the room.

Pri turned back to Lemon. “You’re my only friend in this class, Lem,” she repeated.

Lemon snorted but didn’t have time to respond, as the teacher chose that exact moment to enter the room. The woman didn’t look particularly mean, but Priyanka knew the numbers were already against her. All the numbers, that is. Because it was math… Anyway, she was already sat beside Lemon and there was little they could do to change that now. Besides, it sounded more like Lemon wanted to tease her than actually refuse to help.

Lemon wasn’t the quietest of the dance team members, but she was definitely not friends with everybody. Her confidence threw people off, and Priyanka could tell the girl had some walls up when it came to trusting people, even if she was mostly nice to everyone. The two of them never had much of a chance to hang out by themselves, and while Pri would definitely say Lemon was a friend, she admittedly didn’t know much about her.

This was a nice chance to bond with a person she enjoyed the company of, and by the speed at which this teacher was laying calculations on the blackboard, Priyanka could already tell she and Lemon would have to hang out plenty if she wanted any chance to pass this class.

\--

Priyanka was _hot_. There was no other way Lemon could describe it, and to be perfectly honest she was having a hard time with it. Because Priyanka had always been hot. She’d been hot when Lemon first got to that school and noticed her wearing a sinfully short skirt against every dress code she’d ever seen. She’d been hot when Lemon joined the dance team and got to see her in every position imaginable while they trained, including one blessed afternoon where she spent an entire minute staring at Priyanka’s butt while they paused the routine at a particularly favorable point.

There wasn’t a single moment Priyanka wasn’t hot, but that was fine. Lemon would’ve been okay if she’d remained hot at a distance until they graduated. But this? This was impossible to handle. Because now Priyanka wasn’t just hot anymore. She was hot and funny. Hot and kind. Hot and everything Lemon could ever want.

Sure, they’d talked before, here and there, and they hung out all the time, but always with other people around. Priyanka’s jokes were never made solely for Lemon’s laughter. Her smiles were never directed at Lemon’s eyes. Her whispers were never planted right at Lemon’s ears. Now they had math together and Pri would sit beside her for at least three hours every week. They would talk through writing on a sheet of paper that Priyanka would doodle on the borders when the teacher was looking and Lemon would fold and keep neatly in between her notes after the class was done.

And it wasn’t just in class. Priyanka sat beside Lemon at lunch now, too. She and Tynomi used to be on the other side of the dance team table, but now they’d scoot closer to Lemon as if they always had.

Sometimes, the two of them would also meet after school. To do homework, but also just to get ice-cream, or go shopping, or pretend to do all these things as an excuse to sit down and do nothing together.

Lemon’s stupid, lesbian heart couldn’t deal with this. She was swooning, and that was frankly unacceptable. There was zero indication that Priyanka looked at her in any way other than a friend, and any hope of that changing only served to make Lemon feel worse. She had always sneered at people who nurtured crushes for their straight friends, always found it kind of unrealistic in movies and all, but now it was coming back to bite her in the ass.

But making the feelings go away was easier said than done. Especially when she was staring at those brown eyes or hearing that stupid giggle. Ugh, why did she have to be cute too? Couldn’t she be hot and dumb?

“... and then Boa was like– Lem, you still there?” They were hanging out at Priyanka’s place. Her mom worked until 6 and she didn’t have any siblings, so it was nice to have the place for themselves for a while.

“Yeah, I’m listening.” She wasn’t. Not since Priyanka had so casually laid her head down on Lemon’s lap and the blonde started running her fingers through dark, silky hair (what else was she supposed to do?).

“You okay?” asked Priyanka, looking up at her.

Lemon combed her long hair from the roots all the way to the tips, letting it fall from her grasp as she replied. It was a dark brown with just the tips dyed blue. It was beautiful, like everything else about her. “Yeah. Keep going.”

They were on the floor of Pri’s room, despite having the whole house for themselves. There was a math book open on the desk fooling nobody and some pop playlist playing on a speaker in the background. The room wasn’t massive but it wasn’t small either, with a lot of natural light and the sort of mess that translated into comfort instead of dirtiness. But then again, Lemon would probably love Priyanka’s room no matter what it looked like.

Pri had started talking again but she trailed off after a moment, realizing Lemon was lost in thought once again. But this time, instead of calling her out, she sat up, which was undoubtedly more efficient to get her attention.

“I’m listening!” protested Lemon, already missing the feeling of Priyanka’s hair in between her fingers. “Boa was, hm, being Boa. Go on.”

“You’re not,” said Priyanka, but she didn’t look upset. Instead, she had a mischievous look on her face. Lemon didn’t have time to ponder why before she was being mercilessly tickled. “Why aren’t you listening to me?” Priyanka punctuated every word with a tickle, her smile mirroring Lemon’s outbursts of laughter. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“Stop,” pleaded Lemon weakly, barely able to breathe. She couldn’t fight Pri in that state but she also wasn’t trying that hard, what with all that touching. She laughed and squirmed and tried half-heartedly to get away from Priyanka’s grasp. “I’m gonna pee my pants!”

Priyanka scream-laughed and tickled even harder, tackling Lemon to the ground. “Don’t pee on my rug, it’s expensive.” Despite saying that, she didn’t stop, and Lemon was starting to worry her warning wouldn’t be such a bluff after all.

“I can’t! Please, Pri, for real.”

Priyanka stopped, now lying half on top of Lemon as both of them dealt with left-over laughter and caught their breath. Lemon’s cheeks hurt, but she didn’t have time to register it because Pri was so close she could count her lashes.

“What’s up with you?” asked Priyanka softly, propping herself up on an elbow. Lemon’s breath hitched. “Tell me or I’ll start tickling again.” She leveraged her threat by wiggling her fingers on Lemon’s armpit, dragging a guffaw out of her.

“Nothing’s wrong,” said Lemon, still laughing and squirming. Priyanka tickled a little bit harder and Lemon spilled the beans: “You’re just too pretty.” Her blood froze as soon as the words left her mouth. What was she thinking?

But Priyanka just started laughing. “Oh my god, Lemon.” She laid her forehead on Lemon’s shoulder as if it was too much to hold herself upright. “I’m so pretty you can’t pay attention to me? That’s so dumb!”

“Shut up!” said Lemon, shoving her but not managing to move her one inch. But she was also laughing, even if she turned her face away to hide the blush she could feel forming on her cheeks.

“What kind of excuse is that?” Priyanka continued, unabashed. “You’re pretty too and I still listen to you, you asshole.”

Lemon scoffed and looked back to see Pri’s face smiling down at her. “You’re a better bitch than me, then. There, happy?”

“Yes, actually.”

“I hate you,” said Lemon, unable to not smile.

“You don’t. I’m too pretty.” Priyanka wasn’t letting Lemon look away this time, following her when she tried.

“No, I really do.”

“You loooove me.”

“Shut uuup!” Lemon covered Priyanka’s face with her hands, eliciting even more laughter from both of them.

Priyanka stuck her tongue out and Lemon retreated her hands, disgusted. “You love me because I’m sooo pretty.”

“Seriously, shut up!”

“Make me.”

Well...

Lemon didn’t think. She just leaned up and kissed Priyanka’s smiling lips, hands flying to grab the sides of her face and hold her in place. Pri was right there kissing her back with just as much vigor, pushing down just enough so Lemon could lay back again and slide her hands into Priyanka’s hair where they belonged.

This could only be a dream. Lemon must have dozed off at some point in the middle of Pri’s story and this was what her mind came up with to deal with all those feelings. It couldn’t be real, and yet Lemon couldn’t have made up the softness of Priyanka’s lips, the warmth and weight of her body against hers, the clumsy way they were figuring out their rhythm, the pang that ran down her body when their tongues met for the first time.

Then, without warning, Priyanka was off of her and standing up, and Lemon was sure her own mind was not capable of making up that kind of whiplash. Pri offered her a hand to get up and Lemon took it incredibly confused until she heard the front door close. The brunette must have heard the keys while Lemon forgot everything else in the world even existed.

Lemon stared as Priyanka smiled softly at her. She got closer and started petting Lemon’s blonde strands down, presumably putting them back into a more presentable state. Lemon was about to kiss her again when she heard Pri’s mother calling from not as far as she’d hoped.

“Yeah,” Priyanka responded to whatever was said, letting go of Lemon to stick her head into the hallway and have a shouting conversation with her mom.

Lemon stood there, feelings all over the place, watching this beautiful girl and not knowing if all her dreams were coming true or if this was just the beginning of having everything ruined. Still, she was unable to contain the smile tugging at the side of her lips.

\--

Priyanka’s mom could be really obnoxious sometimes. How could she not notice she was interrupting something? In the end, Pri had to drag Lemon down to the kitchen so they could order dinner and the two of them never had a chance to talk by themselves until Lemon’s dad came to pick her up.

The next day, Priyanka was determined to pull Lemon aside at school the first chance she got. It wasn’t as easy as she would have hoped. Even if they had been closer for a couple of months now, Pri didn’t know Lemon’s schedule by heart, and she worried it would sound suspicious if she asked somebody else. So, she had to wait for lunch. That was cool, it was fine. Not like she was anxious or anything.

Before Tynomi could hog her with a boy-related story on the way to the cafeteria, Priyanka saw Lemon walking over to their usual table. Pri had been weird all day, and Tynomi had noticed for sure, but she could worry about that later. Right now, all she did was mumble out an apology and put up a matching smile while she walked away. Tynomi looked like she already knew everything, and just rolled her eyes with an amused smile on her face.

Priyanka pulled Lemon by the arm before she could even sit down, snatching her away with her lunch pack still in her hand. “What the fuck?” Lemon exclaimed in surprise, but she must have caught on pretty quickly because she didn’t say anything else until they were tucked away in a nook in between buildings and Priyanka finally let go of her.

They stared at each other as Pri realized she had only planned out the kidnapping part. She didn’t know what to say, what she wanted to happen, nothing. But anything she made up was better than watching Lemon’s face grow worried. “I’m sorry my mom didn’t let us talk last night.”

Lemon shrugged and lifted the corner of her mouth in a poor imitation of a smile. “It’s fine, I like your mom.”

“Yeah, I know, but we should, hm, you know, we should have talked,” said Priyanka awkwardly. She leaned against the wall and started fidgeting with her nails, painfully aware of how nervous that looked.

“Like we’re doing now, so successfully?”

When Priyanka looked up, Lemon was smiling at her, for real this time. She smiled back, chuckling, if only because she couldn’t help it. “Yeah.”

Lemon sighed and stepped closer to take Priyanka’s hand and stop her from ruining her nail polish any further. “It’s okay Pri. I understand if it was just a spur of the moment thing…”

“Was it?” It definitely wasn’t for Priyanka. She’d been thinking about it non-stop for weeks.

“I don’t know, was it?” Oh, okay. So Lemon was scared too.

But Priyanka could be the brave one here. For Lemon, she totally could. “Not if you don’t want to.” Priyanka straightened herself up, getting back on her two feet and holding Lemon’s hands with purpose. “That’s not– what I mean to say is that I like you. And I liked that. And I’d like if it, hm, kept going?” Look, being brave is not the same as being eloquent, alright?

Lemon looked a bit dumbstruck. She stared at Priyanka long enough to make her feel awkward, let go of her hands and start mumbling. “But I totally understand if you don’t, of course. We’re friends! And, hm, friendship is… what matters. Or something.”

Lemons stifled a chuckle and stepped closer again, just a tiny bit, touching the back of Pri’s hand tentatively, as if she wasn’t sure she was allowed. “So you want us… to be together?”

“Stop playing with me,” murmured Priyanka, not sure if Lemon was being serious or not. Right now she couldn’t handle any jokes, her heart was like an exposed wound and she was giving it to Lemon with all of her trust.

“I’d like that,” said Lemon, thankfully getting the message. “Let’s be together.”

Priyanka exhaled in relief as the blonde got on her tiptoes to bring their mouths together.

They kissed softly, just a press of lips that lasted a bit longer than usual. Priyanka wrapped her arms around Lemon’s waist and eased her down as she hunched herself to kiss her again, still chastely. She felt delicate fingertips against her cheeks. The moment was as fragile as a glass sculpture and just as beautiful. Priyanka had never felt so elated and she wondered if that would happen every time.

The kiss ended and it took a moment for her to open her eyes. When she did, Lemon was already hugging her tight, and Priyanka could smell her hair for the very first time.

“Are we gonna be public?” asked Lemon, still in the embrace.

Priyanka was feeling a little drunk. “I don’t know,” she replied before fully processing the question. “Maybe not right away. Is that okay?” She pulled back to look Lemon in the face, but the girl didn’t look upset.

“Yeah, we can ease into it,” said Lemon kindly, and suddenly Priyanka understood why everything else in her love life went wrong before this.

Lemon kissed her cheek and stepped away, bending down to get the lunch pack that apparently fell to the ground at some point. She pulled Priyanka out of their nook by the hand but let it go as they walked back to the table area. As she let go, she let her thumb caress Pri’s knuckles for just a second, but it was enough to leave them tingling.

Priyanka sat down in between Lemon and Tynomi, who had a knowing look on her face. Pri didn’t say anything and just took the half-eaten sandwich of her tray to take a bite, since she didn’t have time to get anything for herself. She would fill Tynomi in later. In fact, she couldn’t wait to, her joy was all but bursting out of her chest. But it was fine, they could argue about food for now and half-listen to one of Ilona’s stories, and if Priyanka and Lemon were stealing glances at each other, well, that was their own business.

**Author's Note:**

> If you think I'm in love with Priyanka, you're absolutely right. 
> 
> What do you think?


End file.
